Eight Landowners Named Suspects in Central Kalimantan Land Burning Case

Central Kalimantan Police have named eight landowners as suspects in a land-burning case in the Tumbang Nusa area of Pulang Pisau Regency. “From the interim investigation, they cleared the land by burning it,” said Central Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Iwan Kurniawan in Palangka Raya on Thursday. He explained that the eight suspects are landowners who hold Land Ownership Certificates (SKT) and are located within a single expanse, but each controls a different plot of land. According to him, the suspects were identified based on the results of an investigation by the Pulang Pisau Police into the cause of the forest and land fires in the Tumbang Nusa area. “We want to create a deterrent effect for the perpetrators. During the investigation process, the burned land cannot be utilised first,” he stated. He said all the land that is the object of the case has been placed under a status quo order and marked with police line to support the investigation process. Iwan added that this step is a form of police firmness in taking action against land burners who cause forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan. “To date, no facts have been found pointing to the involvement of other parties. However, we are continuing to develop the investigation to uncover the possibility of other perpetrators,” he said. Iwan noted that the characteristics of peatland allow embers to persist for a long time and reignite during hot weather. Therefore, joint personnel continue to conduct firefighting, ground patrols, air patrols, and checks on every detected hotspot to prevent the fires from spreading. “I have ordered all members that if there is a hotspot, they must immediately go to the location to ascertain the conditions on the ground. If a fire is indeed occurring, then it must be handled immediately so the flames do not spread,” said Iwan.